This activity has been designed to address the educational needs of physicians specializing in pulmonology. It may also benefit other healthcare providers involved in or interested in the care of patients with COPD, including primary care practitioners, such as general physicians, family physicians, internists, nurse practitioners (NPs), and PAs.

Statement of Need

COPD is underdiagnosed, misdiagnosed, and often inappropriately treated. Pulmonologists, who see many of the most severe and challenging cases, are well-positioned to turn the tide. However, they are hard-pressed to stay current with this rapidly evolving field. Among their challenges are: heterogeneous presentations with overlapping comorbidities; an influx of sophisticated pharmacotherapies and devices; and recent and yet unfamiliar guideline updates calling for significant practice changes based on compelling new data. Continuing education will be instrumental in familiarizing these key clinicians with advances in COPD diagnosis and care that have the potential to significantly improve a number of important outcomes, including lung function, exacerbations, hospital admissions (and readmissions), and quality of life.

Learning Objectives

Upon proper completion of this activity, participants should be better able to:

Recognize early signs and symptoms that warrant further evaluation to differentially diagnose chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Categorize patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease according to disease severity, as recommended by current GOLD strategies.

Choose a medication delivery device for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease that accords with patient needs, preferences, and capabilities.

Table of Contents

COPD Evaluation: GOLD 2017 Practice Changes

GOLD 2017 Approach to Individualized COPD Treatment

Demonstration of Inhaled COPD Medication Delivery Devices (Video)

Resources

COPD Medication Delivery Devices at a Glance (PDF)

Physician Accreditation Statement

Paradigm Medical Communications, LLC, is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

Physician Credit Designation Statement

Paradigm Medical Communications, LLC, designates this enduring material for a maximum of 1.5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

PA Continuing Education

PAs may claim a maximum of 1.5 Category 1 credits for completing this activity. NCCPA accepts AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ from organizations accredited by ACCME or a recognized state medical society.

Nurse Practitioner Continuing Education

The American Academy of Nurse Practitioners Certification Program (AANPCP) accepts certificates of participation for educational activities certified for AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ from organizations accredited by the ACCME. Individuals are responsible for checking with the AANPCP for further guidelines.

Disclosure of Commercial Support

This educational activity is supported by educational grants from GlaxoSmithKline and Sunovion Pharmaceuticals Inc.

Instructions for Participation

To receive a CME certificate of participation, you must:

Follow instructions to register or log in with your professional information and complete the pretest.

View the online activity in its entirety.

Complete and submit the online posttest and evaluation. You must answer 70% of the post test questions correctly to earn credit. You will have unlimited opportunities to successfully complete the posttest.

A certificate of participation will be available for download/printing immediately following your successful completion of the posttest and evaluation.

Technical Support: If you have any technical problems or playback issues, please email us at contactus@paradigmmc.com.

Disclosures

In accordance with Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education requirements on disclosure, faculty and contributors are asked to disclose any relationships with commercial interests associated with the area of medicine featured in the activity. These relationships are described below.

Paradigm Medical Communications, LLC, staff members have no financial relationships to disclose.

Independent peer reviewer has no financial relationships to disclose.

Resolution of Conflict of Interest

Paradigm Medical Communications, LLC, has implemented a system to resolve conflicts of interest for each CME activity to help ensure content is objective, independent, fairly balanced, and aligned with the public interest. Conflicts, if any, are resolved through one or more processes. All CME content in this activity has been independently reviewed to ensure that it is free of commercial bias, scientifically rigorous, aligned with the public interest, and compliant with all regulatory guidance and the ACCME’s Standards for Commercial Support of Continuing Medical Education.

Disclosure of Unlabeled Use

This educational activity may contain discussion of published and/or investigational uses of agents that are not indicated by the FDA.

Disclaimer

This CME activity represents the views and opinions of the individual faculty, and does not constitute the opinion or endorsement of, or promotion by, Paradigm Medical Communications, LLC. Reasonable efforts have been taken to present educational subject matter in a balanced, unbiased fashion, and in compliance with regulatory requirements. However, each activity participant must always use his or her own personal and professional judgment when considering further application of this information, particularly as it may relate to patient diagnostic or treatment decisions including, without limitation, FDA-approved uses and any off-label uses.

If included, signed statements of informed consent granting permission for use have been obtained for all photographs and videos in which an individual can be identified.

As an ACCME-accredited provider, Paradigm Medical Communications, LLC, activities must include a balanced view of therapeutic options. Use of generic names contributes to this impartiality. The use of trade names should not be viewed as an endorsement of specific products by Paradigm Medical Communications, LLC.

Terms of Use and Privacy Policy

Disclaimer

The materials provided for this activity are for informational purposes only, and should not be used for diagnosis or treatment of a health problem without consulting a licensed medical professional. Any views or opinions presented are solely those of the Faculty, and do not necessarily represent those of Paradigm Medical Communications, LLC. References to any entity, product, service, or source of information on this website should not be considered an endorsement, either direct or implied, by Paradigm Medical Communications, LLC. Paradigm Medical Communications, LLC, accepts no liability for the content referenced in this activity.

Privacy policy

Paradigm Medical Communications, LLC, is committed to protecting the privacy of those who participate in the activities (herein referred to as “website") located at www.paradigmmc.com. The information below describes the security of the website for safeguarding personal information and the rationale for collection and use of personal information.

Security/safeguarding personal information

This website has physical and procedural safeguards in place to prevent unauthorized access to personal information used to access this website.

Collection and use of your personal information

The submission of certain personally identifiable information is necessary to award and track the credits participants may earn after completing the program. Required items include first name, last name, degree, and email address. These items are necessary. Participants are also required to complete an evaluation of the CME activity. All evaluative information submitted is collected and retained, and used by Paradigm Medical Communications, LLC, to continuously improve the learning experience.